The Almost Perfect Gaming Laptop - Lenovo LEGION Slim 5 14 Review

The Lenovo LEGION Slim 5 14 is, without a doubt, one of the best 14" gaming laptops on the market right now. While not perfect, it offers an insane amount of "bang-for-the-buck" and is a much more viable option than most of its competitors - and it's surprisingly "affordable," too!
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro
01:24 Short Rant on Laptop Reviews
02:08 Benchmarks
03:21 Build Quality
04:03 Quality Control
04:14 Port Selection
05:06 Display
05:59 Does It Have VRR?
06:11 Brightness
06:36 Let's Talk Burn In
07:52 HDR Performance
08:05 Beware the PWM
08:24 Webcam
08:47 Keyboard
10:00 Trackpad
10:15 The GPU
11:08 Power Modes
11:26 Game Benchmarks
11:56 A Bit on Cooling and Temps
12:05 A Bit on Fan Noise
13:37 Value
14:37 Upgradeability
14:50 Flaws
15:13 Battery Life
15:25 Fan Noise
16:36 Speakers
18:25 Conclusion
#gaminglaptops #lenovo #lenovolegion #gaming #asusrog

[@CGD.Studio]

16GB model w/ RTX 4060 now on sale for just $1060 at Best Buy! [US] An insanely good deal. www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-legion-slim-5-14-5-oled-gaming-laptop-ryzen-7-7840hs-with-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-4060-8gb-with-1-tb-ssd-storm-grey/6559123.p?skuId=6559123

[@watchyourtoneBOl]

yep i just bought it, comes in tomorrow, cant wait!

[@CGD.Studio]

@watchyourtoneBOl may it serve you for the years to come!

[@Clasher023]

Should buy it now condering its great price or wait for other new laptops coming this year because i don't exactly need a laptop rn. I will need a laptop after about 3 months for my college

[@CGD.Studio]

Buy it now if you can get it on sale, because it's probably not gonna get any cheaper any time soon. Plus, it's the best-priced 14" gaming laptop on the market. Very little to complain about!

[@Clasher023]

​@@CGD.Studiook thanks

[@adamyung5426]

Your review sounds like a regular consumer who actually used the device and did some digging, and not someone who goes through 10 laptops a day. Keep it up!

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Adam! Will do!

[@thomasc9036]

I am not sure about this guy, but most reviews are "paid" by manufacturers or sellers, so they will have "nice" things to say about everything.

[@CGD.Studio]

It would take a *lot* more than 531 subs for any OEM to reach out and pay someone off. 😅 And, needless to say, they would be very much opposed to any reviewer saying that their laptop has "piece of sh*t speakers "

[@ennuied]

I agree, this is what we need.

[@Kemp.Zaraki]

Definitely one of the best review videos of Legion Slim 5 14" out there. I really appreciate the honesty and the overall style of presenting the video. Keep up the good work.👍

[@CGD.Studio]

Thanks a lot friend, really appreciate it! :) Lots of stuff planned for the future!

[@Kemp.Zaraki]

@@CGD.Studio Looking forward to it. Just subscribed 🔥

[@teebs90]

Very informative review. Also mad props for the intro, it looked amazing!

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Teebs! Lots more planned! 🙌

[@frnmy]

keep content like this. You will be the start of a new wave. Awesome review.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you so much frnmy, this means a lot! Will do!

[@SirDuksalot]

Man, I've seen many reviews, but this is just fantastic. Best one i've seen. Great job

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you SirDuksalot! 🙌 Positive feedback means a lot. :)

[@muhammadrazaabbas4088]

I've never commented on a laptop review before but yours is amazing. Please keep this up -- detailed reviews covering all aspects of the device.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Muhammad! Really appreciate it. Will do! 🙌

[@PLANETWATERMELON]

This is an absolutely fantastic review. Well done and informative.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you for the kind words! Means a lot! 🙌

[@krazyeye5147]

Just ordered this! Thanks for the review, great content!

[@CGD.Studio]

Glad you liked it! 🙌 You'll love it, I'm sure!

[@The1J1Kid]

I just saw your reddit post about how you were in the process of making this video about 6 months ago. I appreciate the review not just going over a spec sheet and actually incorporates genuine human emotion. I'm eagerly waiting for you to come out with more reviews because I see your love for the craft. Keep up the good work, sir! You will go far.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you for taking the time to type out such a beautiful comment. Really means a lot. Making any kind of content requires a tremendous amount of time, and the fact that someone, somewhere likes it to a certain degree, really makes it worthwhile. More laptop reviews are definitely planned, but they're pricey (to say the least) so it's more of a mid/long-term kind of thing, once the channel (hopefully) grows a bit. Thanks again. 🙌

[@rod_2109]

You are a really talented creator! I hope you keep the grind going because you have a special ability to communicate. I’ve got one of these 14” Slim 5s in the mail as we speak :)

[@CGD.Studio]

Thanks a lot maga! Really appreciate it! 🙌 There's a lot more planned! May it serve you for the years to come, it's an amazing laptop, even with its few very specific flaws!

[@lucasredfern8877]

Instantly subscribed.

[@ZachPerrySwift]

One of the best reviews ive watched on youtube. Keep it up

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Zach! 🙌 Really appreciate it!

[@YusufAlsakka]

love the cinematic experience!

[@CGD.Studio]

Glad you appreciate it, Yusuf! Lots more coming! 🙌

[@zazakage62]

Dude great great Video. Specs and all the user experience Topics which considered me were mentioned. I think youre not a native english speaker but you speak sooo fluent and almost accent free. Wish you all the best with your channel buddy.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thanks a lot for the kind words man! Really appreciate it! Yup, not a native speaker, never even came close to stepping foot on US/UK soil. 😂Trying my best though. 🙌 Appreciate you taking the time to type out such a nice comment, means a lot!

[@Coal354]

Great review man! Love the cinematic sequences and your realistic take on reviews! Subbed.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Coal, appreciate it! Lots more planned, fingers crossed that the algorithm doesn't get in the way. 😁

[@yoyoyowhity]

Thanks for the review! Well made.

[@CGD.Studio]

Appreciate you watching! 🙌

[@deviance1315]

love the review!

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you! 🙌

[@triangle7105]

I love your style reviewing bro, iam looking on this beast too man

[@CGD.Studio]

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out in the comments! Timestamps coming soon!

[@chiaza7735]

A third of the way into the video and this review is amazing. Thank you!

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Chiaza! This positivity really means a lot. :) More to come!

[@fanrpm]

Fantastic review, subbed.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thanks for the sub! Glad you liked it! 🙌

[@racheljenn1628]

Great review, thanks man! :D

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you thank you!🙌

[@Ivan-gb5im]

I haven’t seen a laptop review this good in a long time.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Ivan, really appreciate it! Hopefully I’ll be able do to lots more in the future, once the channel grows a bit. :)

[@mckraybtw]

This video is everything I’ve been looking for. Thank you so much and keep up the good work!

[@CGD.Studio]

Glad I was able to help! 🙌 Thank you for watching!

[@zillmc]

Get this man more laptops and other stuff to review! Great video thank you!

[@CGD.Studio]

Aw, thank you friend, really appreciate this! 🙌 More stuff to come!

[@pigabic]

this is one of the best reviews for any tech review i’ve seen because you review it in the perspective of how a normal consumer would use it. keep up the great work

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you, friend, appreciate it! 🙌 Will do!

[@throwingstones96]

great video! made some very valid real life usage points

[@CGD.Studio]

Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching!

[@itummy18]

Brother - keep up the good work. Need more honesty like you.

[@CGD.Studio]

Appreciate it! Will do! 🙌

[@ondrejeder8816]

This is easily one of the best tech reiew videos Ive seen, the technical quality (video and audio) is on great level and I love your points and listening toyou talking about this, hope to see more content from you :-)

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Ondrej, really appreciate it! 🙌 Trying my best! More to come! Laptops will have to wait a bit cause they're so expensive, but if the channel grows a bit more I might be able to get some review samples in. That'd be amazing! 😁

[@ondrejeder8816]

@@CGD.Studio really hope you can get some review samples, I watched this review and the two about ROG Ally and Steam deck and it's really amazing content, with quality rivalling big tech channels :-)

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you, friend, really appreciate it! 🙌 Too many people phoning it in for money and affiliate links. 😅 Might as well try and change that!

[@SpectrePhang]

Thank you for making this video. I was kinda stuck between slim 5 14 and legion 5i at 1st before stumbling upon video

[@CGD.Studio]

Glad I was able to help! 🙌

Oii! You are classified on a different scale when it comes to reviews. Fucking well done!

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Sam! 🙌Really appreciate it!

[@psaunder1975]

You present really well, a very funny, informing review. :)

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you, friend! Glad you enjoyed it. :)

[@dannyyin9663]

Great review!

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Danny, glad you liked it!

[@Happy_Snapper]

I have this laptop and you are bang on about its flaws, still a great device though.

[@CGD.Studio]

Yup, still an insanely good laptop! The OLED display, especially, is a huge difference-maker. Gaming on it feels like a dream! Glad you like it!

[@akashpatra7184]

Such a good production quality 🗿👍

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Akash! Glad you liked it!

[@Wampa9090]

Love your review! Keep it up. You've earned yourself a subscriber.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Wampa! Appreciate it! Lots more planned for the (very near) future.😁

[@vladislavmatveeff5316]

You're fire m8, subscribed, the way you do your content is not in a comparison with anyone in there :) Cheers

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you brother, really appreciate it! 🙌

[@Justsomeguycommenting]

You should make more videos, your videos are very high quality and detailed; at first I thought you had at least 100k subs. You earned my sub.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you, friend, really apprecoate you taking the time to type out such a nice comment. :) It means a lot! 🙌

[@Justsomeguycommenting]

@@CGD.Studio I am also in EU and I cannot believe how cheap this laptop is in North America. I am waiting for the price to go down a bit to save a couple hundred, This laptop is still £1300 even after using student discount.

[@CGD.Studio]

@Justsomeguycommenting did you try ordering straight from Lenovo's website? You can lower the price a fair bit, like it can drop by 100 dollars/euros if you just choose to buy it without a Windows licence. For real. Plus you get a 10% discount by default if I remember correctly. Make sure to check it out!

[@Justsomeguycommenting]

@@CGD.Studio Oh yeah, I was looking at the Gen 9 legion slim 5 and I applied student discount, I saw the -£90 for without windows OS installed, but I'm not sure whether I should approach that or not.

[@CGD.Studio]

You can get a Windows 11 Home key for like 3-4-5€. :) more or less. I would personally go with the Slim 5 14 because of the OLED panel and form factor, but some people prefer them big 15/16 behemoths. 😅

[@dash9191]

Bruh how is this even possible I’ve watched well over 100 laptops reviews from many other KZbinrs but this is surprisingly waaaay better. Love your energy keep up the good work man you’re deserved to grow in this platform 🔥

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Dash, really appreciate it! 🙌 Will do!

[@zygsterr]

Hello CGD. This is easily one of the best production quality videos on laptop review that I've ever seen. I'll soon become a new media(3D animation, game design, and video production) degree student in March, so I'm currently researching on what laptop i should upgrade to from my HP Envy 13 x360. Currently liking the Legion series from Lenovo but I'm still not sure what series to go for, like the 5 or 7 series. Anyway, your video helped me and I appreciate the vibrant expressions that you have in your character and how you put your own twist into the video. Personally, if you are consistent with this kind of pace, I am sure your channel will become more and more successful as time goes on.

[@CGD.Studio]

Oh wow, thank you so much for the kind words @Zygerius, this really means a lot! There's a lot more content planned! The Slim 5 definitely fits the bill for your needs! That being said, you might want to go with a 4070 (once a good deal comes around), just to be on the safer side. A 4060 will handle video production easily (chews through 4K 12-bit BRAW footage like it's nothing), but I'm not sure just how good it'll be if you fire up Unreal Engine and start working on more complex projects. The Slim 7 is a beauty, but a lot of people on Reddit are having some very real issues with it, so maybe wait for a firmware/BIOS update before making the investment. Just be mindful of things like TDP and the fact that the 4070 don't really scale performance-wise past a 100W due to voltage limitations. In any case, make sure to buy your laptop of choice from a retailer like Best Buy or Amazon, a retailer with a great return policy, because in today's day and age getting a spotless unit with no quality control issues or flaws seems like a miracle. Thanks again for the positive feedback!

[@zygsterr]

@@CGD.Studio I see. I've been really eyeing on the legion slim 7 actually. Might have to wait a bit then. But I'll definitely consider the 5 series as well now. I can't really use Best Buy as I'm from Malaysia, and Amazon seems foreign to me. I might buy the laptop from an official store here in Malaysia though, with warranties and all good stuff like that. Btw, by performance scaling, do you mean that 4070 cards are where there are diminishing returns on the performance per wattage? Is it like the sweet spot I should get for a laptop? Like are the 4080 and 4090 cards really overkill to squeeze in just 5-15% more performance?

[@CGD.Studio]

@@zygsterr Right right, check out Lenovo's website too, as it applies a 10% coupon by default, and you can actually customize your laptop (whichever model it might be) and lower the price a fair bit as well. My unit came without Windows 11 which would've been a +100 euro/dollar premium on top of the regular MSRP. All 40 series GPUs other than the 4080 and 4090 are capped performance-wise to 100W. The 4070 has a configurable TDP up to a 140W but those last 40W will only give you something like 5% performance in games, if even that much. So don't pay extra for a 140W 4070 implementation as it's not going to net you higher FPS. This video from Jarrod's Tech explains it perfectly: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oH6wo5tshdV_f5Y I would personally never buy a 4080 or a 4090 laptop as so few of them are actually well cooled. :/ Or they **are** but they're incredibly expensive, at which point building a regular PC makes a lot more sense. Gaming laptops are horrendously overpriced in my opinion (especially in some regions) and most of them just aren't built well enough to justify it. Reddit's filled with horror stories, sadly, and quality control seems to be an issue every OEM is facing. I guess when inflation hit their QC departments were the first to get downsized.

[@zygsterr]

@@CGD.Studio Ahhh i see i see. I'd like to thank you very much for the suggestion of building a PC because when considering price per performance, building a PC may actually be an even better option while also providing me with a better experience with doing my work. For portability, I'll just bring my Envy to class and continue to do heavy work on my pc, is what I have planned now. The power cap, heat generation, fan noise, and higher prices of gaming laptops now seem even more bad to me after re-thinking my decision.The PC direction actually makes me less confused on what to buy since PCs come with that customization. I wont have to spend a big wad of cash all at once either. I'd like to thank you again for the suggestion. You really helped me out. Wishing you evermore success CGD

[@CGD.Studio]

@@zygsterr No worries, I wouldn't be doing any of this if I wasn't willing to help out. :) That's the whole point, after all. I'm actually a part of a small (but passionate) team of computing writers and creative professionals and we're now starting to branch out, hence the KZbin channel. CGD is short for CGDirector, and we have a kickass website (cgdirector.com) that's essentially a knowledge base for everyone looking to build a PC or upgrade their existing rigs. I would 100% suggest you go down that route, as you've already mentioned. Gaming laptops just aren't worth it from a price-to-performance standpoint, unless you can snag one on sale, and even then you run the risk of getting a bad unit or it not being nowhere near powerful enough for your needs. Then there's the cooling, the temperatures, the thermal throttling, and whatever else. And they cannot be upgraded whatsoever, which is yet another reason why building a PC from scratch makes a lot more sense. It's cheaper *and* more powerful. You only lose out on the portability side of things but that's not really an issue as you already have an HP Envy (beautiful machine, btw). Thank you for the kind words, and good luck with both your PC building journey and your studies! And if you need any help or anything, feel free to reach out, either here or on the website!

[@funkyphonicsmonkey]

Subscribed. This is a proper objective consumer review. Refreshing. Good work.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Thomas, appreciate the kind words! 🙌

[@desertedfilms]

AMAZING VIDEO !!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!!!!!!!!

[@arielvera1175]

Honestamente me gustó tu reseña, puedo ver q no tienes muchos videos en tu canal pero me pareció un reseña real

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Ariel! Yeah, just starting out. 😄

[@Happy_Snapper]

BTW loved the style of review, very refreshing and funny.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thanks man! Really appreciate it! :) Not a lot of humor (or objectivity) in the YT tech space, which is a shame. More to come!

[@Taily.]

Amazing review. You're really good at making videos, I really hope to see more content from you. I am actually planning on getting the slim 5 or the LOQ 15 sometime in Summer from Romania (I really hope the price for the Slim 5 will go down a little by then)

[@CGD.Studio]

Woah, thank you for the kind words Taily! Really appreciate it! There's a lot more planned going forward! Laptops, handheld gaming PCs, MacBooks, tablets, phones, etc. :) I'd go with the Slim 5 if I were you. It really is amazing, even with those few flaws and shortcomings I mentioned. This spec'd-out model cost me 7.299 lei which was an insanely good deal. (brand new, unopened at EMAG in Timisoara) There was also some weird Genius discount (like 9%) applied which certainly helped. Good luck, and in case you have any questions, feel free to reach out!

[@Taily.]

@@CGD.Studio I'm planning on getting the 16" model with a 4060 since I usually prefer larger screens. Glad to hear that more content is coming to the channel too!

[@andriicherevatyi]

I am impressed. Let me get emotional. The way you speak, the things you mention, the way of your thinking, the "direction" of the whole video, the overall quality. It's just absolutely delightful. And even the chapters, the video is divided into so many pieces, I love it! Subscribed instantly. Sometimes you are a bit jumpy between topics and fast but I like this energy. By the way, I don't think you have mentioned that it's a Ryzen laptop, so it also means no thunderbolt. You and the team (if there is a team) did the wonderful work

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you so much Андрій for taking the time to type out such a beautiful comment! It really means a lot. Making these videos is a lot harder than it might seem, so having people react to it so well really makes it worthwhile. :) It's just me at the moment, at least from the writing and production side, but I'm a part of a much larger team of computing writers (cgdirector.com). In the future, who knows, if this channel keeps on growing it might even become a team, which would definitely be exciting! Sadly, the whole tech space on KZbin has become incredibly disgusting (sponsored content, lack of objectivity and care towards the viewers), and much of the same holds true for written content as well where quantity trumps quality (and the frequent SEO changes don't help much either). You're right about it sporting a Ryzen CPU (so no TB), but it could've still had USB4 which would've resulted in basically the exact same functionality. A missed opportunity, I think, seeing how it couldn't have raised the cost of the laptop overall, but still, it's not a dealbreaker. :) Thank you again!

[@andriicherevatyi]

​@@CGD.Studio ​ The quality is the same as channels with teams, so it's truly amazing hard work! I totally understand your feelings about nowadays content writing/creating... It's just too overflooded with marketing and makes no sense. Everyone is focusing on quantity over quality... Wish you and cgdirection success. Yeah, I would love to see a USB4 port. You deserve a lot of praise!

[@thersydahmad]

This is a great review. I'm trying to decide between the legion series and the thinkpad P series for production work. Thanks for the input 💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾

[@CGD.Studio]

Thanks for watching! :) What kind of production work exactly?

[@acur665]

great review! sounds like the fan noise is the main dealbreaker - so do you basically just run it at quiet? Thats probably what i would do if I picked this up. im curious to see what the incoming g14/g16 models will be like for thermal perf / noise characteristics

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you! On Balanced it sounds like a typical gaming laptop, but it's still pretty usable, and you can drown it out a fair bit, even if the speakers are horrendous. On Turbo it's just impossibly loud. Yeah, I just run it in Silent and it's been amazing. It's incredibly capable even within such a "small" power envelope, there's so little fan noise and it's still running everything flawlessly, albeit with DLSS. I mean, over 60FPS in Cyberpunk at 2.8K with High settings (DLSS+FG) at 60W, that sounds almost too good to be true! The only game that *really* struggled at Silent was Alan Wake 2, everything else ran amazingly well. The 2024 G14 should be about as quiet, I assume. Still too early to tell, though.

[@SheppyIRL]

Great review. With the lack of vrr did you notice any screen tearing when gaming or smooth af?

[@CGD.Studio]

Thanks Sheppy! I did, to be honest, but only when I was pushing the laptop (or its GPU, rather) beyond its "limits." It really depends on the game. Like, if you limit yourself to 1080p on the most demanding titles, you'll be more than fine. 1440p as well for select titles (and Medium-High settings with DLSS and Frame Generation, if available). As long as the GPU isn't struggling too much, you won't notice a lot (if any) screen tearing. It's not a must-have, in all honesty, but the Slim 5 **was** advertized as having it, so Lenovo really duped/deceived a lot of its customers. In any case, it's not a dealbreaker, more of an annoyance or, rather, an inexcusable omission given Lenovo's pre-release marketing material. The jaw-dropping OLED display alone makes it worth the asking price. The 2024 G14 was just announced (OLED, with VRR), but it's surely going to be a *lot* more expensive than the Slim 5, so it's not exactly a better option from a value perspective.

[@ItsMeProday83]

Još ja vidim poznat covek...matori pa razvaljuješ recenzije, tek sad skontah! Samo napred. Evo i sub i like i sve 🙌❤️

[@CGD.Studio]

Hvala Vlado, trudim se! 😁 Živ bio! 🙌

[@shredman59]

Really great and thorough review. The fan noise and lack of middle of the road noise settings is a deal breaker for me. Do you happen to have experience with the 2024 Rog Zephyrus 14 (4060) fan noise while gaming?

[@CGD.Studio]

Thanks! 🙌 Appreciate the kind words! No experience with the 2024 G14 sadly. A review was planned but, once it was released in the EU for over two thousand euros, I simply couldn't justify the investment given its performance. :/ Once (if?) the channel grows, I'll hopefully be able to get my hands on some review units or loaners. That's the plan! I would suggest checking UltrabookReview's written posts on the 2024 G14, there's a very novel one as well and it covers gaming on it with as little fan noise as possible. Might be of help!

[@clujromanialinkin]

First of all, I wish you succes with your new channel. I'm Romanian and I had the possibility of buying it on emag the weeks prior to black friday but I hesitated (given the fact I also have a 2022 legion 5 pro with a 3060). Now I do really feel the scarcity, it hasn't been in stock since. Since then, I was also thinking of a Lenovo Yoga 14inch specced out with the i9-13900, rtx 4070, 64gb but I would really wanna know how well it actually does in gaming knowing the wattage differences in GPU's in different laptops. I love the form factor and the fact it is USB-C powered (though I'll maybe wait to get one when the 240W USB-C becomes a thing). If you can review it I would love it.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you for the kind words! We're still working on building this channel up (I'm saying *we* because I'm actually a part of a team), so we still can't get any review samples, unfortunately. I'd love to review as many laptops as humanly possible, but that's just not realistic at this point. :/ We have a lot of reviews planned, but all of those units and devices will have to be bought and then re-sold afterwards, as was the case with this Slim 5 14. So not ideal, but it is what it is. For what it's worth, the Yoga Pro 14" is on the list as well, but when (and if) I'll ever get to it is up for debate. With all that being said, if you're talking about the ±2500 euro SKU at emag.ro, I would *heavily* advise against buying it. I think very few, if any, Windows-based laptops are worth that much money. I was looking into buying a similar model myself a few months ago and it's just not worth it. The battery life is mediocre at best, and while the build is amazing (along with the screen and performance), it just doesn't justify the asking price. I mean, it all depends on what you want and need from a laptop, but for that kind of money it really needs to deliver and go above and beyond. I would wholeheartedly recommend buying a M1/M2/M3 Pro MacBook for that sum as it'll deliver a much better experience in basically everything other than gaming and 3D work. There's a reason why so many people (tech KZbinrs included) have switched over to Apple Silicon - it offers an unparalelled experience, and there's just nothing over in the x86 world that can match it. Or, alternatively, wait for the Slim 5 14 to show up again for ±1400 euros as that's a more than fair asking price given its performance. If I'm not mistaken, the Yoga Pro 9 has a 80W TGP (or something like that) which means that it's going to perform about the same as the Slim 5 14 with a 4060. So you'd basically be paying almost twice as much money for nearly identical performance. :/ Or, alternatively, if you want a USB-C powered gaming laptop and don't mind a lower TGP, wait for the HP OMEN Transcend 14 to show up! It's more expensive than the Slim 5 14 but it has better build quality (all aluminum), and a VRR OLED panel. Waiting for that one to show up at eMAG/Altex myself, so there'll be a review as soon as possible! :)

[@clujromanialinkin]

@@CGD.Studio thank you for the long insight! While I did consider for a long time switching to a macbook, being in the apple ecosystem with every device I have except for my laptop, gaming is still a “must” for me and I still don’t trust geforce now and other platforms enough for me to buy one. Moreover, I am quite a digital nomad, I work as a radiologist 100km from my home town and I am always on the go and most radiology programs in Romania are still poorly optimised dor MacOS. I would love more portability from my laptop and reducing my tech footprint. So a high performance 14” windows laptop with usb-C charging would still be my perfect choice. Guess I’ll just have to wait it out for a few more years… Hope your channel grows as fast as it can, given you started out with high quality montage, delivery and everything else!

[@kristiancorrea8271]

I love ur genuine way of reviewing. Just bought this laptop for $1050 USD. honestly still the best 14" inch for its price. Im getting really great battery life out of it, around 7-8 just web browsing and doing light tasks. Only consuming on avg 7-8 watts. Its somehow beats my legion 7 slim gen 8 with same exac specs (cpu & gpu) with a 99Wh battery. Anyways looking forward to more content, im subbed.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Kristian, really appreciate the kind words! 🙌 I'm glad you're enjoying your Slim 5 14, it's a marvelous laptop! And by far the best 14" from a price-to-performance standpoint!

[@RSTEM]

Best buy?

[@kristiancorrea8271]

@@RSTEM yea

[@derekhatake]

Well made video review, thank you.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thanks for watching!

[@juansebastianariasrueda720]

i Just liked your style of reviewing

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you, Juan! Appreciate it! 🙌 More soon to come!

[@nairehdad1240]

Excellent review, thank you, you gave me a lot of information, I am in love with the design of this PC, but the sound is holding me back a little from the purchase. I am going to try to get the Lenovo Slim 7, but I only found the one that comes with Intel, since the one with Adm Gen 8 does not. there is. I liked the 14.5 size, it wasn't bad, but well, the 16 size isn't bad. thank you

[@aarodmrnubs]

Are you able to charge via the PD port or only the required power brick? Great review man!

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you! 🙌 Yup, PD charging worked great! Albeit it's probably not sufficient as it's limited to 100/130W, don't remember off the top of my heat, so only good for Silent and Balanced profiles. Turbo requires the proprietary one.

[@broskisnajdy]

great review :) hi from czech republic

[@No1No1No1]

Great review! At 14:00 you mentioned that the 7940HS in the g14 will perform worse than the 7840HS in the legion 5 due to thermal throttling, im wondering if thats also the case with the 7940hs in the slim 5, as they dont sell a 4060 version of the slim 5 14 with a 7840hs where i live, only 7940hs :(

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you, friend! 🙌 Glad you liked it! I think the 7940HS is gonna run perfectly fine. The temps and throttling are tied to how much juice ASUS gives the CPU on the 2023 G14. Lenovo is a lot more conservative and, as a result, the 7840HS performs better (in gaming and short workloads, at least). The difference in performance between them is minimal, if I'm not mistaken, but I'm pretty confident you're not gonna run into any issues. 👍

[@yusufdenizcelik2480]

Great review, honest, to the point. Thanks man, keep it up. I was thinking about g14 2024 but the deal on best buy is such a bargain that I think I will change my mind.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you Yusuf! As you should, getting this laptop for just a thousand dollars is a steal! The OLED panel alone makes it worthwhile, to say nothing of the build quality and stellar performance in both Silent and Balanced power profiles.

[@GarrisonKeller]

Normally I would be afraid of the risk of burn-in, but this is worth it.

[@Alexander_Bahgheera]

I have a question brother, what do you think about msi afterburner? Do you think you could possibly adjust the fan curve with that?😅 Maybe to just catch a happy medium with this tiny behemoth perhaps? Also, spectacular coverage and overall real life use case were truly and thoroughly brought into your video. Thank you soooo much for sharing, I most definitely subscribed and look forward to more of your work!

[@CGD.Studio]

You can easily make fan curve adjustments and tinker with power levels in the Lenovo Vantage software. :) It's surprisingly feature-rich in that sense, even though it doesn't look like it at first glance. So yeah, no third-party apps are required! Thank you for your kind words, seriously appreciate it! 🙌

[@Falsh125]

I think the variable refresh rate is based on the fact that each individual pixel in an OLED panel can light up/switch off individually. I believe Lenovo optimized the refresh rate of their OLED panel to match the onscreen content to completely eliminate screen tearing.

[@CGD.Studio]

Sadly, no, only ASUS successfully pulled it off with its newest G14 and G16. :/ and that was their big selling point coming out of CES. The HP Omen 14 also isn't optimizes.

[@mehdih48]

Really great review, very informative! How was your gaming experience with no VRR? Did you notice alot of stutters and tearing? and did you find yourself having to run games at much higher fps to mitigate that? Also I don't use the speakers alot on my current old laptop (an ancient legion y520) but I find them "serviceable" when I need to, do you think the speakers on the slim 5 will be even worse or are they just bad by modern laptop standards?

[@CGD.Studio]

Glad you liked it! Gaming experience with no VRR was, for the most part, perfectly fine. I only noticed stutters and tearing when pushing the GPU way past its limits. It's a strange thing overall because it can handle so much, even at the laptop's native resolution, but if you're not careful you can quickly reach a point where it all falls apart. 😄 Overall, whenever any tearing got in the way, I just lowered the resolution to 2K or, at worst, 1200p and continued playing. Not sure if they're worse than the speakers on the Y520, but they're definitely not impressive (in fact they're objectively bad). That being said, most people don't really care about laptop speakers, and these are perfectly serviceable for gaming, just not for any content consumption. And if you *do* want to watch a movie or something, just use headphones and you'll be golden (or external speakers, whichever suits your needs better). And, most importantly, this should not deter you from buying the Slim 5 14. It's an amazing laptop and is, without a doubt, the best 4060 option on the market. People have been buying it for a little over $1000 which is insane. There's really no better deal out there!

[@mehdih48]

@@CGD.Studio Thanks for the response man. Yeah it seems like a pretty good deal, especialy here in Europe. I think I am definitely leaning towards getting it. I found some deals on the slim 5i 16inch and even the pro 5 with a 4070 that are only about 100€ more which is making me doubt my decision . I don't know if I should value the better portability and battery life and the great OLED more than a bigger screen and better performance for future proofing. Do you think it will be dumb to pass on the pro 5 4070 deal 😅, or does the slim 5 14 advantages still seem worth it? Also so you think the glossiness and reflectiveness of the screen is manageable as long as I am using it inside?

[@CGD.Studio]

@@mehdih48 No worries, I'm here to help. :) Eh, depends on what you're playing. The 4060 is still plenty powerful, even at 1440p. I'd personally go with the Slim 5 14, primarily because of the OLED display, as that's an advantage few other laptops have. It's orgasmic. Just... wow. For everything, too, gaming, content consumption, content creation, and just typical stuff like browsing the web. If it's an IPS panel, you might get backlight bleed, IPS glow, a subpar contrast ratio, subpar color accuracy, just a total mess. With an OLED you're set. If you want a larger display, just buy a 27" monitor (they're pretty affordable nowadays) whenever you can and you'll be good to go! I wouldn't worry about the glossiness. That's blown out of proportion by people. A glossy OLED panel will always look ten times better than a matte one. And it's plenty bright, too, with ±400 nits in SDR, so just like a MacBook Air. Perfectly fine for both indoor and outdoor use.

[@mehdih48]

@@CGD.Studio That's good to hear. I ended up going for the slim 5 14 as it really fits my needs better and as you said the OLED is a big plus. The 5 pro 16 deal was tempting but I ve seen that the HX cpu is quite power hungry even on idle and I won't get much use of it, and the 4060 is pretty good enough especially with DLSS. Like in a few years if I can just lower the settings and the resolution to play some newer demanding games I don't really mind that. Now I just have to wait for it to be shipped 😄. Your video and answers were much more helpful than alot of reviews I seen , all the best to you and your channel!

[@epicgamer496]

best review out there for this laptop by far you sound like you actually used the laptop

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you, friend, appreciate it! I did, and it goes to show just how sad the whole YT tech scene has become, when *that's* a compliment, you know? 😅 "Oh wow, you actually used the thing you're reviewing." Crazy. Hopefully it changes in the future, but I doubt it.

[@Rafmeistr]

Personally, the speakers have been fine for the stuff i actually listen to without headphones. If im eating and watching a video on youtube, the speakers are fine. If im listening to music, or gaming for that matter, I always have headphones. I see no situation to play music from laptop speakers anyway. If its for a crowd it would go through independent speakers anyway. But yes, it would be nice if it could match my old macbook pro 2013 a little better, but its not a reason not to buy the laptop imo. good video! this thing is a beast for what its meant to be. coming from a mac im still getting used to it, but the problems have mostly to do with windows... compared to macOS, the UX and "smooth", bugless experience is something ill miss. hardware wise i feel the fingerprint sensor is a bit 50/50,and the touchpad could be faster, but coming from a mac I have accepted the fact that nothing comes close to their touchpads. And i wish they sold the 32gb version here. Got this one on a 500€ sale (!!) for 1500€ and interest free payments over 2 years, which was a huge deal for me since i dont want to spend the whole lump sum of 1500-2000€ if I were to buy it directly from Lenovo. Maybe ill regret it later and just buy it with 32gb or the new asus g14 with 32gb, but for now I think the 16gb is enough for what youre going to get out of a 14 inch laptop anyway!

[@cutthat4643]

Do more reviews honest and on point

[@CGD.Studio]

Will do! 🙌 Laptops will have to wait a bit, sadly, cause they're so insanely expensive (the most interesting ones, at least). No one's gonna provide any review units to a channel this small. 😅 But soon, hopefully.

[@NuclearNotebook]

Agreed on the current state of most laptop reviews (ooh look how long this line on a bar chart is! Here are some glamour shots! Links in the description!) and I appreciated this video as someone currently sniffing around at this machine! That quiet mode seems luscious, but do the surface temperatures stay under control in that mode?

[@CGD.Studio]

Thanks, friend! Surface temps are totally under controlin Silent mode. The very top of the keyboard deck gets quite hot but that's to be expected, and it's above the keyboard area so you won't feel it too much on your fingers. The underside of the laptop gets quite toasty, so best keep it on a stand of some kind. Still, nothing worrying. Temps are amazing, too. Mid 70s for the most part in Silent which is spectacular.

[@NuclearNotebook]

@@CGD.StudioI have another question - is that a Surface Duo you're using for notes there?

[@CGD.Studio]

@NuclearNotebook it is! Man, what a device! The most jaw-dropping and the absolute worst at the same time. A shame Microsoft abandoned the whole thing, it's a much more logical foldable than what all other OEMs/manufacturers are doing. Why do you ask? 😄

[@hexagonal707]

I don't know why people hate glossy panels.. glossy panels feels premium than those one with anti reflective coating.. especially with blacks

[@CGD.Studio]

Couldn't agree more! Plus, with a high enough nit count, the reflections aren't even an issue. I'll take the eye candy over a matte coating every day of the week!

[@LegendaryRc]

Im from a different country where laptips cost more than 1.5 times so ill ask a relative in the us to bring it for me. Do you think i should get the 14 or the 16 for 999 at micro centre Im mainly worried about screen burn in and maybe motherboard issues since it's a new laptop. Also ram limitation isn't really nice. What would you recommend knowing that i would have no warranty whatsoever

[@CGD.Studio]

As far as I know, Lenovo laptops are covered by an international warranty (for real, it's not just a marketing gimmick), so you *will* have warranty no matter which model you end up going with. All they (service center) cares about is the serial number, you don't even need the box or anything else. :) If you're worried about burn-in then you should probably go for the 16" model. Or, you know, buy the 14 one, use it for a year and then re-sell it, you most likely won't encounter any burn in by that point (unless you're reckless).

[@LegendaryRc]

@@CGD.Studio the 14 inch is'nt even sold here officially, hence the concern. i thought the international warranty was only for the thinkpad lineup, ill check again thanks

[@CGD.Studio]

@LegendaryRc I don't think that matters. The service center (officially licensed) probably won't have any spare parts on hand, so they'd have to reach out to Lenovo and wait a few weeks to get those parts. But the best course of action would be to Google who the official service repair partner is in you country and then give them a call. As far as I know, it's universal. You might get some additional perks if it's a premium ThinkPad (and one of those fancy business warranties) but it should otherwise cover all laptops. But, yeah, give them a call just to be safe.

[@badmoose01]

I just bought this laptop for the sale price and am shopping online for a laptop sleeve or bag that fits the laptop without being too tight or too loose. I found that the extra portion of the chassis that extends behind the monitor and the 16:10 aspect ratio gives this laptop a unique footprint that manufactures don’t really make form fitting sleeves for.

[@CGD.Studio]

Yeah, fingers crossed that Lenovo comes out with a specialized case/sleeve for it. :/ The protruding back really complicates things, alongside the non-standard screen size.

[@radekw8600]

I just ordered this machine in Australia for AUD$2034, which is EUR €1231.19 with: AMD 7840HS, RTX 4060, 32GB OF RAM and 1TB of storage. I feel like this is a really good price for this laptop. Can't wait to get it 🙌

[@CGD.Studio]

An absolute steal! May it serve you long and well!

[@evancycles]

Amusing review, good personality. As far as the actual review, I'd sum it up as it's great overall, but the flaw is disappointing speakers. If you're cool with wearing headphones if you don't need great audio directly from your laptop, then you will love this machine. I imagine at such a competitive price there could be one or two concessions made- with the Slim 5 14" it's the sound. If this is going to be your only PC, and you don't want to wear headphones & you need great audio, this machine is not for you! But for many, wearing headphones or not needing awesome sound when using my laptop is okay. Personally, I got my gaming desktop with good speakers at my desk at home. I'm going to use that most of the time as it's spec'd an RTX 4080 and a large 32" 4K gaming monitor. The Legion for me is an adorable, portable powerhouse, great for going to the cafe' gaming on the go, content creation on the go, and productivity anywhere. If I need awesome sound on the go, I'll bring along my SteelSeries New Arctis Nova 7X headphones, which of course will blow away any laptop audio.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thanks Evan, glad you liked it! And yes, your rundown is spot on! It's an absolutely incredible laptop and is well worth its MSRP, even with its few specific flaws.

[@shadowrevival]

Great video bro! Currently, I am considering this model vs yoga pro 9, but the battery on that model lasts for 3hrs. I am considering this laptop solely for the better battery life, will i regret buying this laptop with inferior display and speaker? Thanksss 🎉

[@CGD.Studio]

Thanks, appreciate the support! 🙌 Wait, so you're considering buying the Slim 5 14 over the Yoga Pro 9? :) I think that's a good idea. Btw, an OLED panel is definitely a step above mini-LED as there's no blooming and the response times are basically instantaneous. So you're only giving up on the speakers which I think is a fair trade given that the Slim 5 14 is a fair bit cheaper than the Yoga Pro 9 (which, if I remember correctly, is slimmer and therefore has lower sustained power draw for both the CPU *and* GPU). Plus you'd have a much easier time selling the Slim 5 14 in a year or two as it's still going to be a sought-after laptop.

[@shadowrevival]

@@CGD.Studio Hi Thank you for quick response! yeah I guess I have to accept the inferior sound quality and plastic keyboard lid over the Yoga Pro 9. I hope the battery last long for watching HDR contents!! Gotta love oled and their colors

[@retrogamer847]

Hello i bought Lenovo legion 5 but it is not named slim,it has rtx 4060 with ryzen 7 7735hs should mine be different from the one you mentioned in your video for fan noise and other things? Since mine 15.6 inch 2k with 140wattage on GPU side

[@CGD.Studio]

Hey retrogamer! Well that really depends as it's a fair bit different from one model to the next. Your laptop is larger, but it also has a much more capable GPU. A difference in 40W is pretty substantial. :) I wouldn't be worried at all as they all follow a fairly similar formula: relatively quiet at Silent, loud but bearable at Balanced, and Boeing 747 at Turbo. As for speakers and battery life, they might be ever so slightly better than the Slim 5 14, but you'll have to test that out yourself. If I'm not mistaken, that model has an IPS panel so you should definitely get slightly better runtimes, and since it has a larger chassis the speakers should be louder as well.

[@dixinc.5507]

I owned this laptop for almost 2 months and I loved it but I could not get past the weak speakers, subpar battery life and lack of FreeSync. I does have VRR in the Vantage software but I didn't notice a difference. I ended up going with the 2024 G14 which addressed all of my needs.

[@DirtyAFR]

I know this device does not have any USB 4 ports but is there still a way to connect it to an external gpu? That's the only thing that is leaning me toward the asus g14. I love everything else about the Lenovo! Thanks for the great review.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thanks for watching! Sadly there's no way of connecting an eGPU. The only way literally would be by using that extra M.2 slot for somethinglike this (www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=www.amazon.com/ADT-Link-External-Graphics-Thunderbolt-PCI-Express/dp/B07ZB5CS1R&ved=2ahUKEwj2w6vJ27-EAxX3RfEDHc8ZBgQQFnoECA4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw3Tc08wjOEvBFh-VI2jTF1b) but you'll need an additional power supply to power the GPU. You'd also have to run the extender cable out of the laptop (from the motherboard) so you won't be able to close the bottom plate fully), but you won't have to make any physical modifications. I mean, now that I think about it, this is probably the best laptop for such a thing because it has a second M.2 slot, but if you need a stronger GPU I would suggest buying last year's G14 or, perhaps, buying a larger 15" laptop with a 4070 or better.

[@DirtyAFR]

@@CGD.Studio thank you for the response! I am planning on replacing my outdated desktop setup with a laptop and external gpu setup. I have a 4080 in an external USB 4 enclosure powering 2 4k monitors and my main 3440x1440 gaming panel. I love the 14in form factor for portability and I can get everything I need done with the onboard 4060 if I'm only using the built in screen. I don't really want to pay the premium for a 4080 or 4090 laptop and deal with the thermal problems. They also don't offer the Lenovo in a configuration like that anyway at 14". I love the Lenovo and I think it is objectively better than the g14 (2023). However, for my specific situation, I think the versatility of the USB 4 is worth the sacrifice. I'm curious to know what you would do in my situation? Is my logic sound or am I missing something? Thank you so much!!!

[@CGD.Studio]

oof that's a very specific situation you're in. 😁 Why don't you just build a gaming PC? I mean, you laready have an incredible GPU on your desk, and PC components are pretty "affordable" these days compared to what was the case just a few short years ago. If you're gaming on 2K or 4K (as you are) you won't be bottlenecked all that much by your processor, even a Core i3-12100F will suffice! I'm saying this because having a 4080 in an eGPU and a gaming laptop with a 4060 is sort of... complicated? Not sure what the right word is. You're spending a ton of money and you're not necessarily getting the full experience because of the bandwidth limitations of TB/USB4. Or you could, perhaps, buy an ultrabook that has TB4 and then use that dock whenever you're at home for gaming. Or, alternatively, you can buy something like the Lenovo Legion Go (which has USB4) and use it as your main gaming rig with that 4080. You certainly have a lot of options! The ROG Ally isn't an option though as it has to be connected to ASUS' proprietary XG Mobile.

[@DripZ07]

Saddly the 32gb RAM version on the US market is not available anymore, or at least on the lenovo web page. You can only upgrade from ryzen 7 to ryzen 9, It's shame since you will never be able to upgrade it. Great video man, thanks!

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you! 🙌 Maybe that'll change in the near future. Lenovo definitely has a winner on its hands and they know it. Plus it's due for a refresh, maybe with an 8840HS or something, it'll be almost a year soon since it was released.

[@edgargabriel6640]

You are right. I just ordered one for 1460 € in Germany. Despite my MAIN is the maxed out 7i Gen 8

[@NucLe4rCZ]

Amazing review! I just ordered this laptop :) And I think you are maybe missing the point of the flaws. For me it makes sense - for regular work, browsing, chilling - you can just put it in quiet mode and everytning is okay, no fan noise and audioquality is shit maybe but you dont need HQ audio for those tasks - and if you need maximum performance then you are probably doing some creator stuff (video editing, 3D, render?) or gaming ... and I wouldnt do those tasks without HQ headphones :D So I dont care much about audio quality and fan noise. Lenovo managed to save money there so for me its 9/10 laptop for that price ... only the battery life could be better :D

[@CGD.Studio]

Glad you liked it! 🙌Oh, but that's the whole point: what you might deem acceptable, someone else might not. :) A flaw is a flaw, no matter if there's a way to deal with it or not. Some of these flaws are inherently subjective, which is why it's even *more* important that they are highlighted. We all have different needs, preferences, and levels of tolerance for these things. But overall, the Slim 5 is amazing, and I'm sure you'll love it! May it serve you well for the years to come!

[@ukaszl3197]

If you want to use hdr on this laptop, what brightness do you set in the settings to have the correct peak brightness value in hdr? 100%?

[@CGD.Studio]

I match it to the peak HDR brightness of the display itself (550-600 nits in the case of the Slim 5 14). Most games do a fine job at doing this automatically, and if something looks off I just change the values manually. Not much of an answer, but I hope it was at least *somewhat* helpful. :/

[@exposedhobo]

Broke out laughing when the speaker test came up omg, so bad its offensive hahahaha

[@rickystafford7433]

if you drop the resolution down to 1600p does it still look good or is it noticeably blurrier because it’s not the native resolution?

[@CGD.Studio]

Sure does! It's not *as* crisp as 1800p, but it's really not that noticeable, the display isn't overly large after all. The real difference kicks in at 1080p, but even then it's totally fine. As long as you get a stable 60+ FPS, you'll forget about the pixels and enjoy the game!

[@Xendify]

Would this be a good laptop to use for after effects and video editing?

[@CGD.Studio]

Hi Xen! Which resolutions and codecs? I've used it to edit 12-bit BRAW footage off a Blackmagic Pocket 4K and it handled it all with ease, with no proxies. That being said, if video and After Effects is your main goal, getting, say, an M1 Pro MacBook Pro would no doubt deliver a better experience. Even the passively cooled M1 MacBook Air does wonders in that regard (16GB of Unified Memory) because it has dedicated video encoders and decoders.

[@kristiancorrea8271]

Quick question, just bought the laptop, how warped should should the reflections on the oled panel be? Currently my screen is like a fun house mirror.

[@CGD.Studio]

Hello hello! What do you mean by "warped?" As in, the reflections show up differently to what you expect, they're of a different size or shape? In the video I wave around a tube light at like 50% brightness (08:55) and the reflection *is* strong (and slightly warped) but I never experienced it while using the laptop in daily use, next to a window, a TV, a lamp, or whatever else. I mean, the reflections are strong, there's no denying it, but I didn't notice any warping necessarily. What are you using it next to, what kind of light source?

[@kristiancorrea8271]

@CGDworks the panel works perfectly fine. I just use this in very bright areas, at times in direct sunlight. I just can noticibly tell the oled panel isn't flat. Makes my reflection on the screen goofy looking, exactly like the potion seller meme. Anyway, I wanted to know if this is normal or a defect. I'm just having trouble finding other people with the same laptop to compare to. But so far, an excellent laptop, recommend to any programmer/student who needs the portability, performance, & battery life. It's definitely a joy to use compared to my previous Legion Slim 7 Gen 8.

[@CGD.Studio]

Can't say that I've experienced it myself, but I always max out the brightness on any laptop I use (just personal preference), so I didn't have any issues with glare/reflections. I doubt there's anything wrong with the screen, it's probably just the glossy coating doing its thing, as weird as it might sound. :)

[@Promikes]

Hello friend, like a fresh air, great review and style, love it! Keep it up. Choosing between Legion Slim 7 2023 (7840HS, 4060, 3k IPS), Legion 7i 2024 (14900hx, 4070, 3k IPS), Lenovo Yoga Pro 9 2023 (13900H, 4060, miniLED) and know this one Legion Slim 5 (7840HS, 4060, OLED) i tired of choosing, almost lost my mind)) your thoughts... my current laptop is Macbook Pro 14 m1 max (maxed out) - i hate macOS, i need windows back, but i am not sure do i still want 14, or better to try 16

[@CGD.Studio]

Thanks friend, glad you approve! 😁 I have a question: why exactly do you need Windows for? Quite frankly, there's still no Windows-based/x86 laptop out there on the market that can compete with a maxed out MacBook Pro. You'll have to give up battery life, fan noise, single-core performance, build quality, etc. etc. Is it for gaming? 3D work?

[@Promikes]

@@CGD.Studio it is for SEO sofware like Termidroid, like Zennoposter / BAS which is windows only. And also yes for some Gaming (only PvP), I am windows user from Windows 95 :) and now I am almost 34 years old, and my big mistake was trying this macbook, last 2-3 years was hell...it is slow, I mean it is slow in its heart - animations (disabled and still), ui, everything, and 1 year I was stressing out, now I already adapted and doesn't mention, but it is still here. I am power user) for girls - Macbook is way to go, for some sort of "hypsters", "videoeditors" I think it's fine too, but not for someone like me. Once I was competitive wow player, last 12+ years I am in web industry, it is for windows, deep and best software are windows only, and trust me Parallels and Crossover can't help you :) only RDP a little but, but still. That's why I am switching, but I love miniLED so much, that's why I am scared of what Lenovos matte IPS would look like... before macbook pro, I was desktop user maxed by that time. Also will use it in studio for photo / video, for Unreal Engine tracking camera live, Deepfake processing, many interests))

[@CGD.Studio]

Ah, yeah, sounds like you need a Windows laptop for a *bunch* of different things. I think the Slim 5 14 is your best option from a price-to-performance perspective. OLED is even better than mini-LED as it doesn't exhibit any blooming, but it can burn-in over time which is definitely a (potential) problem. Still, I think it's worth the risk. 😁 That Yoga Pro 9 is supposedly amazing as well, but I think it's still really expensive, and you're not getting better performance in return. Plus, the Slim 5 14 has a 14.5" display which sort of sits nicely between 14" and 15.6". I know 0.5" doesn't sound like a lot, but it makes a tremendous different personally, I could barely believe it. Really large and immersive, but still portable and somewhat lightweight. *Do not* go with an IPS panel. Please. Save yourself the pain. :) OLED or mini-LED. Btw, if you're *really* demanding, the RTX 4060 might not be enough, so give that a bit of thought. A friend of mine makes a living in Unreal Engine and Houdini, and he could barely start up his projects on the Slim 5 14. He ended up buying a Zenbook Duo with a 4080 and he couldn't be happier.

[@Promikes]

​​@@CGD.Studio thank for such deep info mate, yes burn in is risk... how about g-sync / and without, my brother says "once you've seen gsync you can't play without it", same as you compare IPS to OLED, miniLED. Is it really somehow noticeable, tearing or something? I think this laptop is really price-performance king in 14+. But don't know, after what you've said about 4060, I am leaning to new Legion 7i 14900hx + 4070 (+50% cuda cores compared to 4060), but yes.... it is IPS 3.2 165gz and gsync, and color colebrated... but still is IPS. But it costs twice. Actually this companies makes it too hard, look like they always intentionally making thing NOT perfect. Do this slim 5 maybe have AMD freesync or something? And how good is touchpad, because I use it pretty often nowaday.)

[@CGD.Studio]

Nah, I personally can live without G-Sync. Not having it is only an issue if you're really pushing the GPU and it can't maintain a steady FPS. If you're not doing that, then you're not really going to notice any tearing, especially not with VSync turned on. Also, OLED/mini-LED > IPS is a much bigger jump than G-Sync > no G-Sync/Freesync. No G/Freesync on the Slim 5 sadly, the only 14" gaming OLED laptop that has it is the newest 2024 G14 from ASUS. A beautiful machine, but slightly weaker (than the Slim 5) and *much* more expensive in most regions other than the US where it's like a +$300 delta over the Slim 5. The trackpad is mediocre. Good, serviceable, nothing sensational, a diving board design. Pretty typical, which is to say good but nothing mind-blowing. The 2024 G14 trackpad is *much* better, it feels a lot more premium. Not a haptic trackpad, sadly, but it's still pretty darn great as far as Windows laptops go. 😁

[@gomezxv]

Hi I just got a Legion Pro 5i with 13700HX, 32 gb ram, 1tb ssd and 4060 graphics. It is great but it is big and hefty and the charger is huge and the battery life is only 3 hours. Anyway I saw this laptop and the oled display intrigued me. The version I can potentially get as a switch is the slim 5 14 inch with ryzen 7840hs, 16 gb ram, 1tb ssd, and the same 4060 graphics. Both priced near at $1200 USD. What are your thoughts. Thank you and great review!

[@CGD.Studio]

Hello hello! I would personally go with the 14" model. I mean, you lose out on the RAM, which might be an issue depending on your needs and use-case, but the OLED makes it worthwhile, and so does its overall portability. I would personally go with the Slim 5 14, but it really depends on what you want to do with your laptop and how you want to use it (for work, play, both?)

[@nairehdad1240]

Hello, I just ordered this computer, now I have to wait for it to arrive and install Windows, I'll ask you, have you tried Lenovo Toolki or Lenovo Ventage directly? brings together suggestions Greetings, an Argentinian in Europe

[@CGD.Studio]

Hello hello! Lenovo Vantage is included by default, and it worked well in my testing. Not too bloated like MyASUS and similar applications. I tried out Lenovo Toolkit as well and it worked about the same. Much more streamlined and a bit faster. I personally didn't have a preference, but I assume most people will use Toolkit as it's lighter, starts up faster, and has a bit more options when it comes to customizability.

[@joi4927]

I like you bro, thanks for mention abous asus care OLED, and whether or not this laptop or lenovo legion have this feature.

[@CGD.Studio]

🙌 Here to help!

[@Dave22-bg2sw]

i have this but the 16 inch version with ryzen 5 got it for 970 tax included, was that a good deal?

[@CGD.Studio]

Absolutely! Getting an RTX 4060 for less than a thousand dollars is always a great deal in my opinion. :) powerful enough to handle most games at great settings, with or without DLSS.

[@arfmf]

I don't want to push you to "be a youtuber". Just when you get some piece of gear you feel like reviewing, review it. I've liked, subscribed and activated notifications and well I'm commenting right now. Best of luck and thanks, the sound is a deal breaker for me. I'm on a base model M1 Macbook pro 16", have a friend going to the US and I'm itching for a gaming laptop up to $2K I think I'll just get an M2 Max 16" base model used instead and stick with Baldur's Gate 3 only, I've been spoiled with this laptop speakers and trackpad.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you so much for the kind words, really appreciate it! Its an amazing laptop, but its speakers are just... inexcusable. The difference in quality and loudness between it and even a regular M1 MacBook Air is staggering, to say nothing of a MacBook Pro. It's comical, almost. Hard to convey through a video, in person it's even worse. But, still, if you can snag one for, I don't know, $1200 or something, then it's totally worth it. Gaming on this thing really is a delight, especially beacuse of the OLED panel. Ordering straight from Lenovo will, in most cases, result in the lowest price (unless it's on sale at BestBuy/Amazon/wherever). There's a 10% coupon applied by default I think and you can remove Windows 11 from the equation as well and lower the price by another $100. The M2 Max 16" is definitely the better laptop (in every conceivable way), have you tried gaming through Crossover, Whiskey, GPT and all that stuff? A really close friend of mine just beat Elden Ring at 2K with a consistent 60 FPS (High settings, I think) without issue on the exact same chipset. Check out Andrew Tsai, if you're not already subscribed to the guy. :) His channel is a treasure trove for those looking to game on an Apple Silicon Mac.

[@ashtondillard6906]

Thinking of getting this one. Are the fans bad enough to where if I had a nice headset on I’d still hear them? Would a external cooling laptop cooling pad help?

[@CGD.Studio]

It's actually incredibly silent when it's on Intelligent Cooling, and it's powerful enough to handle nearly any game, even with just 60W. Balanced is a lot louder but any kind of headset will drown it out, so you'll be good! 🙌 Turbo, eh, not sure, you'll have to have some beastly headphones and/or noise cancelling to make it manageable, but the performance uplift from Balanced to Turbo is pretty minimal, so there's very little use in using it that way, at least for gaming.

[@ashtondillard6906]

@@CGD.Studio I’m thinking about buying it Friday. I’m split between this one, Omen 16 4070 and MSI crosshairs 4070 which do you think is best value? They are all on sale.

[@CGD.Studio]

Oh I would definitely go with the Legion. It's an OLED. You can't beat an OLED panel for gaming and content consumption. It's just a completely different experience. Which OMEN 16, this one? www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-omen-16-165hz-full-hd-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-9-7940hs-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-4070-512gb-ssd-shadow-black/6536973.p?skuId=6536973&intl=nosplash I would honestly *not* buy an MSI gaming laptop in 2024 - they're currently being sued for their bad hinge designs which, sadly, no one on KZbin seems to be talking about.

[@ashtondillard6906]

@@CGD.Studio idk, this omen says it retails for 1800$ and it’s on sale for 1200$. Want me to go check?

[@CGD.Studio]

Of course, the details matter! 😁 The 4070 can have, like, a 45W TDP as well, in which case it'll perform like a 4050. I would generally go with the Legion Slim 14 either way because it has an OLED panel. Like, it makes a world of difference when it comes to gaming and content consumption. In a league of its own, really. If you can get it for around ±1000 USD/EUR then it's a steal!

[@davidn.8150]

Do you think you could link German and Romanian stores? Great video! :)

[@CGD.Studio]

Thank you David! Yes, I bought this model from Emag.ro (you should check Altex.ro as well) and I think the 4050 model is available in Germany somewhere as well (check Geizhals.de). For Hungary, I always check Emag, DigiPrime (they rarely have anything in stock though) and HardverApro which is their tech "eBay".

[@kaanozkuscu5079]

Nice review, good thing I never cared about Laptop speakers, I mean they sound decent after playing with the software but you work/game with headphones or proper speaker setup so who cares^^ With that screen alone it beats every other laptop in that price segment.

[@CGD.Studio]

Thanks for watching! Yeah, it's not necessarily a dealbreaker, although it is bewildering just how bad they actually are, especially given the sheer thickness and size of the laptop. But it's still an incredibly good device for the asking price and a much better pick than the G14. The OLED alone makes it stand out from the crowd (and with ease, too).

[@justinhalen2126]

I'm really confused about the point of the 140watt usb c port? So if i get an expensive USB c dock with 140 watt pd charging, is it the same performance as the 170watt dedicated power connector? If not, then what is the point of it over the the much cheaper 100watt standard usb pd hubs

[@CGD.Studio]

No, you're not getting the same performance with a non-proprietary PD charger. To run this thing in Turbo, you'll have to use the Lenovo one. That USB-C port accepts chargers up to 130/140W (not sure off the top of my head), but you can use a 65W charger as well (if you want to run the laptop only in Silent mode, although the battery might deplete if you're pushing it as 65W isn't enough for the CPU+GPU to run at full throttle). The point is to have more flexibility. If you don't need the absolute best performance, you can just carry around a smaller GaN charger and leave the proprietary one at home.

[@justinhalen2126]

@@CGD.Studio thank you. Do you know if the laptop is smart enough to switch to the dedicated charger if it already docked to a 100watt pd usb charger? I have a usb c dock with 100w passthru charging. So I was planning on using that for convenience. And then would only plug in the dedicated charger for gaming/intensive tasks that need more power. But don't know if both can stay plugged in at the same time.

[@kabraxis123]

Oh wow, hell of a great review. Until some point I was amazed with slim and now I don't know what to go for. I have 2-3 options to choose and completely don't know now which to choose. LEGION Slim 5 14 32gb 4060 16-hp-victus-16-i5-13500h-16gb-512- rtx4060-144hz ASUS TUF Gaming R7-7735HS/32GB/512GB/RTX4060 All pretty much the same price. Which one would you go for?

[@CGD.Studio]

Thanks a lot kabraxis! Glad you liked it! Oh the Slim 5 14, hands down! It's not even up for debate! It has soldered RAM but it's fast, and you're getting 32GB so it's not like there's much to complain about. And the build quality is much better than that of any TUF or Victus. And the keyboard, too, the port selection, the thermal performance, everything punches way above its weight class. It's a staggeringly good laptop, and it's priced way lower than anyone could have expected. That TUF one, by the way, has a Zen 3 CPU, not Zen 4. That's the 3 in 7735, so it's essentially a 6800HS. If it were a four then it would've been a Zen 4 processor. AMD's naming scheme is up there with Intel's - hard to say who's more deceiving at this point. And, finally, there's the OLED panel. It makes a world of difference. Go with the Slim 5. It's in a league of its own compared to those two other models.

[@Sikes21]

It was a good review but I have a question though. Should I get the g14 or the slim5? They go on sale for about the same price on best buy a lot. The sale price for both is around $1000. Ive seen a lot of people saying the slim5 is better but the ram is the dealbreaker for me. There are just no good sales on the 32 gig version of the slim5. The g14 has one upgradable ram slot. Do you think that the g14 would be better because of that or the slim 5? Also I know that the g14 has some bad temps so I could just buy a cooling pad.

[@CGD.Studio]

Am I too late to give an opinion or is there still enough time left? 😅

[@Sikes21]

I still haven't bought a laptop yet but I still don't know what's better for the future. Cooler temps or a screen with g-scync and upgradeable ram@@CGD.Studio

[@CGD.Studio]

Oh, cooler temps and an OLED display. There's no debating it, honestly. G-Sync is great, upgradeable RAM is great, of course, but the G14 is also plagued with tons of quality control issues, in addition to it requiring a lot of post-purchase tinkering to bring CPU temps under control. With an OLED panel, there's no backlight bleed, no IPS glow, and it's a kind of image that you can't get anywhere else, other than, perhaps, a really high-end Mini-LED panel. I mean, how long do you plan on keeping your laptop? I'd be okay with 16GB of RAM. I think people have that blown out of proportion. Having 32 gigs is great, but that's not really a "must have" for 95% of people, unless, of course, you plan on doing some serious work on it as well.

[@Sikes21]

Another KZbinr is saying that the g14 would be better since you can configure some settings in g-helper to use lower watts. He has a whole tutorial on how to do that. Also the reason I want 16 gigs is because I made a mistake in getting a pc with 8 gigs of ram a couple years ago which is bad now. I want to be able to use the laptop for 5 years. Also I heard the old panel degrades way faster in about 2-3 years. An old display in my opinion is to glossy and might be hard to see in some places. Also without g-sync might be a problem because of screen tearing and PWM flickering. Is the slim 5 still better? Also haven't seen many problems with the quality control in the reviews on bestbuy.@@CGD.Studio

[@Sikes21]

Also the temps other than configuring settings can be helped by a good cooling pad. I don't really care to much about the noise it creates.@@CGD.Studio

[@kasiitaali]

😂😂😂😂 for no reason me dancing on the speaker test 😂😂😂 speakers matter alot

[@sleptember2631]

Dam now I’m hoping one day you review the asus zenbook duo (2024) when it comes out 🙏🏿

[@CGD.Studio]

I'll see what I can do! 🙌 The G14/G16 2024 is up next and, hopefully, the HP Omen 14 as well!